Civic Awesome: Open Data in the News for March 14, 2014

The impact of open data continues to grow. From new legislation to helpful civic apps, we’re excited to see the community around open data getting stronger every day.

To help you keep up with all of the good news, we’ll collect the top open data stories from around the Web on this blog each week. Make sure to watch this space for updates and share what you find with the people in your network.

The City of Grand Prairie will soon implement its first open data policy. “The policy itself is a statement of our commitment to transparency and the principals of open government,” Shawn Tucker, city web analyst, told The Daily Herald Tribune.

The Guardian recently asked open data experts to give their opinions on how councils can better use the data available to them. Suggestions include using more data visualizations, giving citizens the support and knowledge to use and understand the data, and to use the data to tell compelling stories.

In a lively panel debate at SXSW on Tuesday, entrepreneurs were labeled as the future of shaping open data, though they face “weighty opposition from legacy data holders.” Read the article and let us know in the comments who you believe holds the future of open data.

To stay relevant and vital, governments must go beyond offering a few basic services online. Some have even come to the realization that they are custodians of an enormously valuable resource: the data they collect through their day-to-day operations. By opening up this data for public consumption online, innovative governments are facilitating the same kind of digital networks that consumer web services have fostered for years. The era of government as a platform is here, and open data is the catalyst.